Ulli Vada – South Indian onion and curry leaf fritters

These little morsels are terribly addictive; once you start munching on them it’s hard to stop. In South India this is a popular teatime snack and roadside venders fry them fresh and sell them piping hot. People usually wait for the fresh batch to come out of the oil so that they get the best…

Onion (thinly sliced) – 2 cups

Curry leaves (loosely packed) – ¼ cup

Fennel seeds – 1 teaspoon

Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida powder – ¼ teaspoon

Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Salt – ½ teaspoon

Gram flour (Besan or chickpea flour) – 1 cup

Rice flour – 2 table spoons

Vegetable or coconut oil for deep frying

Mix sliced onion with salt and leave it aside for five minutes for the onion juices to come out.